Railway-switch point



E. M. WILSON AND E. S. SEAMAN.

RAILWAY SWITCH POINT. APPLICATION FILED MAYIB. 1921.

1,390,850. I PatentedSept. 13,1921.

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PATENT OFFICE.

1!. WILSON, 01' 8'1. PAUL,

AND EARNEST s. SEAMAN, or mm vnaroms, mmso'ra.

RAILWAY-SWITCH POINT.

To all whom it may concern:

. Be it known that WGyEARL M. WILSON and EARNEST S. SEAMAN, citizens of the United States, residing respectively, at St. Paul, in the cou It of l tamsey and State of Minnesota, and inneapolis, in the county of Hennepin and State ofMinnesota, have invented a new and useful Railway-Switch Point, of which the following is a specification.

Our invention relates to railway track construction and more particularly to the construction of diverging tracks such 1 as main and side track or main and spur track at their point of divergence.

The object is to provide railway-switch points of substantial construction and so constructed that the part of the switch point getting the hardest wear may be readily detached and a new point substituted and the balance of the switch point with its pivot is retained for further use, thus eliminating a large and expensive waste of material common to many railways.

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is a top view of a portion of main line track showing also a portion of side track at its converging point with the former and including our improved switch point and a switch post.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged detail top view of one of our improved switch points in operative contact with a main track rail, the tread and web of the latter being shown dotted.

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the switch point in Fig. 2 with the right hand portion of one reinforcing plate broken away.

Fig. 4 is a vertical elevation of our switch point as seen from the right of Fig. 2.

For descriptive urposes the straight rails in the drawing wi 1 be called the main track rails and the rails diverging therefrom called spur track rails.

Referring to thedrawing by reference numerals, 5 are the ties 6 and 7 the right and left rails, respectiveliv, of a main track and 8 and 9 the right an left rails, respectively, of a spur track divergin from said main track. 10 and 11 are rig t and left switch points having pivot 111 12 on the under side at their large en s for pivotally engaging an aperture in a plate 13 or other equivalent construction may be used.

Specification of Letters iatent.

. Patented Sept. 13 1921 Application filed May 16, 1921. Serial 1T0. 469,854. a I a 1 14 represents a switch operating post of usual construction mounted near the track and having the hand lever 15 which operates connecting rod 16 and therod17 attatched as at 18 to the switch points tooperate them.

The operation of the switch points illustrated in Fig.1, dotted linesindicating their position when'the main track isin use,.the

full lines indicate position of the points when it is desired to run a train from the main track on to the spur track or vice versa.

It is readil understood that when a train is to be switc ed from the main track on to the spur, there is-a tremendous side pressure and consequent wear at the pointed end of the switch point rail 11 which can not be overcome. The present practice of throwing away the entire rail 11 when the point is worn is costly and extravagant and our invention eleminates this waste by the followin construction.

As illustrated in Figs. 2 and 3, our device in general appearance is the same as a switch point of the present type of standard rail, the inner side of the rail tread, as 19, being a straight line to the point 20, and the outer side 21 parallel thereto only as far as to point A which touches inside line 22 of main line rail 7. The vertical face 23 of the switch point, between A and point 20 is held against main line rail 7 when a train is to be run in on spur track 8-9, the point on the other side being swung inward simultaneously by rod 17 allowing wheel flanges of train to follow rail 8 when the left hand flanges contact with the switch point as described and continue on to rail 9 of the spur track.

From a predetermined point as B and to the end 20 of the rail 11 we cut away the tread of said rail on a horizontal line 241 (see Fig. 3) and provide a number of notches 25 in the web 25 for receiving corresponding web tongues 26 of a detachable switch point 27, held in place by bolts 28 passing through apertures in said web and tongues and in two opposite plates 29. The bolt heads are countersunk in the plates (see Fig. 4;) for clearance to allow point 20 to be broughtup close against the adjacent rail, as 7 or 8 (Figs. 1 and 4).

Plates 29 are made as wide as possible to fill in between the tread and the base the extreme flange of the rail and extend back far enough to hold the removable point firmly in the web 25 of the rail 11.

30 is a ledge at the top of web 25 near point 20 and tapering toward the large end of rail point 27 according to the angle of said point when it is in contact with rail v7, (see Fig.2) said ledge or clearance passing under the tread of the main rail to allow full closing of the-switch.

at we claim is:

2 luA railway switch point consisting of Y gaps having vertical ed a main section pivotally jointed at one end to the. main trackrail and having at the other end the tread of the rail cut away and the web of'rail therebelow formed with es; a second joint section comprising main y a rail tread portion with downward lugs fitting in the said gaps, fish-plates extending one along each side of said sections and bolts having countersunk heads and extending horizontally through said fish-plates and the intermediate web and lugs, for securing the parts together; said second section being wedgeshaped toward its free end and removable upward when the bolts through its lugs are withdrawn.

2. The structure specified in claim 1, the gap nearest the free end of the main point section being open also toward the said end of the section, so as to expose the lug therein to the contact of a car-wheel entering the switch point.

In testimony whereof we affix our signatures.

EARL M. WILSON. EARNEST S. SEAMAN. 

